(By trio member Mike Madigan)
The Sharecroppers of Newfoundland celebrate 25 years a Newfoundland folk trio! (1988-2013) And by golly it's true too when I say: "it's been 25 years and nar fight betwix us!" lol. The trio have remained friends, fellow teachers (now retired), and two of us are even grandparents!
The Sharecroppers of Newfoundland celebrate 25 years a Newfoundland folk trio! (1988-2013) And by golly it's true too when I say: "it's been 25 years and nar fight betwix us!" lol. The trio have remained friends, fellow teachers (now retired), and two of us are even grandparents!
Life has been good in so many ways and although we have remained fairly humble in the public eye, our songs about Newfoundland have touched many. Just the other day someone from the Dept of Education asked that our One Room School song be submitted for a resource book to be used in the classroom. I love hearing that.
Over the years many of our songs like "The Legionnnaires: Lest We Forget", "The Kyle" , "Grenfell", "One Room School" and "Viking Winds" and more have been used in the classroom for projects as well as in various museums/exhibitions etc.
Over the years many of our songs like "The Legionnnaires: Lest We Forget", "The Kyle" , "Grenfell", "One Room School" and "Viking Winds" and more have been used in the classroom for projects as well as in various museums/exhibitions etc.
Who are the Sharecroppers personally? It pleases me to tell you about my trio buddies!
Guy Romaine hails from Newman's Cove, Bonavista Bay. Guy's dad, Newman Romaine, went to the little one room school there and always spoke of interesting and mischievous times in that one roomer, now a small United Church. Guy's dad worked in construction but also had a fishing license, so Guy and "skipper" would often go out on the Bonavista Bay. Thus Guy loves to write about the simple things of outport life and does a great job. With songs like Yesterday's Fisherman", Life in the Outport, Freddy's Tune, My Cove and One Room School, Guy's poetry is simply beautiful. Here's a youtube example of Guy's excellent poetry with his song "This Island": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcUGK9e5Dwg
By the way, Guy's dad passed away a few years ago and his funeral was in that very one room school he went to. Talk about full circle. Guy's mom Rita still lives in Newman's Cove and is the sweetest woman on earth.
By the way, Guy's dad passed away a few years ago and his funeral was in that very one room school he went to. Talk about full circle. Guy's mom Rita still lives in Newman's Cove and is the sweetest woman on earth.
Ed Humber hails from Corner Brook and it's no wonder one of his many fine songs is "The Mill Whistle". Ed's dad, Harvey Humber, worked for more than 37 years at the Mill.
Ed was the most recent to retire from the classroom and most of that time was spent as guidance counselor. The kids loved and respected him then and still do today, as Ed has helped many find their way through sports as well as his personal guidance. Every summer for the past 17 summers Ed guides a tour bus (Executive Worldwide Travel) for a friend and they do a 14 day tour of Newfoundland. He does this just once a summer and because of his finely tuned tour of St Anthony and the Grenfell place, Ed wrote this amazing song about Grenfell which I think is the best ever written about this great English born Newfoundland icon. Have you seen the youtube of this? Beautful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf9tL0R9Iqc
As for myself, Mike Madigan, I've kept a rather low profile (lol) since my roots are actually Irish and French :) The father's side of the family comes from Askeaton,Co Limerick Ireland and he, Leo Wm Madigan, married a french girl from Quebec named Jocelyne Geoffroy. Dad, of course, quickly pronounced her name as "Joyce Jeffrey" and I think my mom suddenly became Irish!! lol So I'm half Irish and French, but most mostly Irish!
Perhaps you are familiar with the song I wrote called "My Grandfather's Fiddle" ? It's about my french grandpapa, Jules Geoffroy, who was a town fiddler in St Felix-de-Valois, Quebec. And I believe some of that French and Irish mixture has definitely rubbed off on me. Know how I know? Well, when I play on my mom's old fiddle the tune "The Saint Anne's Reel" ....or "La Reel de St Anne".... as they say in french, I do so in a very unique way here in Newfoundland. How? Well, I make the Irish and French harmonies blend in together. And come to think of it, maybe I play The St Anne's Reel the best in the world!! Hmm...I wonder what's "Blarney" in french? lol
Perhaps you are familiar with the song I wrote called "My Grandfather's Fiddle" ? It's about my french grandpapa, Jules Geoffroy, who was a town fiddler in St Felix-de-Valois, Quebec. And I believe some of that French and Irish mixture has definitely rubbed off on me. Know how I know? Well, when I play on my mom's old fiddle the tune "The Saint Anne's Reel" ....or "La Reel de St Anne".... as they say in french, I do so in a very unique way here in Newfoundland. How? Well, I make the Irish and French harmonies blend in together. And come to think of it, maybe I play The St Anne's Reel the best in the world!! Hmm...I wonder what's "Blarney" in french? lol
Here however is my Grandfather's fiddle on Youtube that Jim Yetman from Bryant's Cove nicely illustrated for me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37H-ojP-_d8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37H-ojP-_d8
Where did the Sharecroppers start? And why the name Sharecroppers? We are asked that all the time.Well The Sharecroppers started when Ed, Guy and myself were all teaching at Pasadena Academy. Our students one April day in 1988 knocked on the staffroom door at recess. They wanted to know what the teachers were going to sing at an upcoming cabaret the school was preparing for.
So the three of us got together and practiced two Newfoundland songs,... and something very different for a third song. That different song we decided to do was "Sharecroppers Dream" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Notice the name??!! The name Sharecroppers stuck, and because the trio went over so well that night, we were asked to perform at countless churches, schools, Legion halls and concerts... and the rest, as they say, is history!
All three of us are retired from the classroom but are still enjoying the music side and entertaining each summer. We give our Newfoundland Cultural Experience show to many coach tours and the occasional cruise ship during the summer, as well as a number of Newfoundland festivals.......which can all be seen at our web site http://www.thesharecroppers.net/
I also hope the crowd from CBC's Land and Sea read what I blog because I'd love to get a copy of our Bristol England trip we did for Newfoundland tourism in '96 at The International Festival of the Sea. Land and Sea followed us all over Bristol where we did 13 shows in 4 days. CBC did a nice segment on The Sharecroppers in that show.
And I hope Mr Geoff Stirling reads this, for I'd like to thank him personally for listening in 1993 to our 1st cd (NATURAL) I sent him with the One Room School song. He phoned me at 5 am Newfoundland time from Arizona a couple of times. Imagine that! Geoff, out of his love for Newfoundland, gave us $20,000 worth of free advertising on NTV and then did a vignette of our song One Room School that played for 17 months straight - three times a day! He also did wonders with our song about the KYLE, the famous Newfoundland coastal boat that is still grounded in Harbour Grace. Many folks in Newfoundland and all around the world have now seen these vignettes on NTV because the station's having gone satelite in the 90s. Congrats NTV!
Yes, may there be many more years to come in sharing our Newfoundland cultural experience with Newfoundlanders and tourists here and all around the world! Isn't Newfoundland just a wonderful place to be? God Guard Thee Newfoundland!
Now please enjoy this little anniversary you tube video I produced using one of our original Celtic sounding instrumentals called Caplin Run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEOYr7LOQRM
Take care and please feel free to write me with any comments or suggestions for this summer!
Cheers,
Mike Madigan (mike_madigan@yahoo.com)
Take care and please feel free to write me with any comments or suggestions for this summer!
Cheers,
Mike Madigan (mike_madigan@yahoo.com)
